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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Train

Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin and a top official with the Union Pacific Railroad clashed Wednesday over what the railroad knew about a plan to consolidate rail traffic along 10th Street and when it knew it.

The Union Pacific wants to lay another line alongside its existing track along Third Street and increase freight traffic as part of a high-speed passenger rail project funded with federal dollars. The city, fearing that increased traffic would divide and scar the city, wants to move trains to 10th Street, as contemplated by a 2005 study paid for by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

“Senior management at Union Pacific didn’t see the (10th Street) study until July of this year,” Michael Payette, an assistant vice president for the railroad, told the Illinois Commerce Commission during an informational briefing. “I don’t believe it was distributed to the ICC, either.”

But Davlin said the railroad has known about the city’s wish to transfer rail traffic from downtown since the spring of 2008, when he and other city officials met with Union Pacific representatives. At the time, the railroad wanted city cooperation in upgrading tracks and crossings on Third Street.

“We explained to the highest levels of Union Pacific: We’re not in favor of upgrading Third Street,” Davlin told commissioners. “This was all in my conference room, with 15 or 16 witnesses.”